the london design festival is an annual event that promotes the british capital's creativity, drawing in the UK's greatest thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators to a deliver an unmissable celebration of design.

at design miami/basel 2015, british designer max lamb challenges the mass standardization of sanitaryware, and incites reflection on bathroom rituals in the exhibition ‘marmoreal, bathroom, furniture’. the installation features a new black marmoreal-engineered marble realized in collaboration with material-based design studio dzek.

marmoreal slab basin

the ‘marmoreal’ collection aims to extend the bathing experience, while simultaneously opposing the idea that the bathroom should consume a great deal of space. informed by his travels throughout asia, lamb adopted some of this eastern bathing philosophy in the design, for example, the marmoreal bath, with its steep vertical sides, recalls the traditional japanese ofuro, or soaking tub.

marmoreal storage stool

lamb began his examination of sanitaryware by investigating the roots of personal maintenance habits, particularly whether they’ve been driven by mass standardization, or if the standardization was born of human necessity. his own daily bathing routine became a primary reference point in the creation of the collection, with a hope to eliminate the non-essential objects part of a standardized modern bathroom. ‘marmoreal’ is the main material used in each of his bathroom furnishings become innately different from the familiar standards made out of ceramic, steel, and plastic.

marmoreal toilet

overall, the interpretation of the bathroom collection works alongside the other marmoreal furnishings that are typical of the designer’s work. the pieces are efficient, functional and designed to serve equally well in a fully integrated marmoreal space as well as varied bathroom interior contexts. all bathroom fittings for ‘marmoreal, bathroom, furniture’ have been provided by water fittings manufacturer barber wilsons & co.

marmoreal library

‘marmoreal’ is an engineered large aggregate pre-cast marble terrazzo that was conceived by lamb in 2014. it skillfully balances 15th-century craft traditions with modern engineered-stone technologies in an approach that is architectonic and sculptural. it is available in black or white, as well as an edited range of standard tile and slab dimensions.

marmoreal black, full slab in the stone yard, 2015the raw material of the engineered marbleproduction of ‘marmoreal’ – a large aggregate pre-cast marble terrazzoproduction of ‘marmoreal’ slabs‘marmoreal white’ at the rosso sant’ambrogio quarry

*UPDATE: ‘marmoreal’ – an engineered marble for architectural surfaces by max lamb, is on show at the 2015 london design festival (LDF) within the brompton design district. the exhibition on show at 4 thurloe place mews, just a few steps away from the V&A, presents ‘marmoreal’ in its complete range of standard colours and formats — from full slabs and tiles, to a selection of furnishings. the showcase at the 2015 LDF represents the first occasion in which the public can experience ‘marmoreal’ in its large, three-metre slab dimensions. the exhibition is supported by process images and text, giving visitors an in-depth overview of the material’s progression — from prototype, to production, to application.

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